Canadian receivers ready to make impact for Bombers

Rashaun Simonise showed up with his own birthday cake Thursday as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers put in final preparations for their first pre-season game.

“My grandmother sent some over,” the Canadian receiver said. “It was kind of a little surprise so I’m pretty thankful for that.”

Simonise turned 23 on Thursday, but Friday will be an even more special day as he suits up for his first professional football pre-season game.

“Just being out on the field is going to be a present enough, to be able to be in an environment like that, out there with the team,” the Vancouver product said.

“I’m very excited. There’s been a few long nights leading up to it and I just can’t wait to get on the field.”

Simonise was drafted by the Bombers 12th overall in 2018 and came to training camp as one of a handful of national receivers with a chance to crack the opening-day lineup.

The 6-foot-4, 202-pound wideout has made a decent impression in camp, though he still finds himself behind second-year pro Drew Wolitarsky on the depth chart.

It looks like Wolitarksy and Winnipegger Nic Demski will be the two national players who start at receiver in the pre-season, though players like Simonise and fellow 2018 draft pick Daniel Petermann will do their best to make it interesting.

“(Friday’s) a big day for all of us, the national players, to prove ourselves, show what we’ve got,” said Wolitarsky, a 2017 supplemental draft pick who dressed for five games last year and made one catch for 15 yards.

“It starts Day 1 of practice and you’ve got to be consistent, you’ve got to be able to make plays on a daily basis, keep bringing it every day in practice and help them make the decision.”

Wolitarsky, an American with Canadian roots, said the competition with Simonise and others has been healthy.

“He just brought us cake today, so much respect to him,” Wolitarsky said.

“It’s good competition and you play better when there’s someone creeping down your neck. I think it’s healthy for both of us. He’s a great kid and it’s all fun. We’re good friends.”

What the Bombers need is for one of them to step up and be productive. With two nationals starting, the Bombers are going to need them to be top-notch blockers and, at very least, decoys. If they can chip in a few receptions per game, all the better.

“I’m not just excited for myself but I’m excited to see what these guys can bring to the table too,” Demski said. “I’m excited for them, playing their first CFL games. For guys like Simonise and Tylor Henry and Petermann, they’re all coming out here and they want to prove that they belong in this league.”

Demski, 25, will wear a Blue Bombers uniform for the first time on Friday. The 25-year-old grew up in Winnipeg and played for the Manitoba Bisons before getting drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2015.

“I honestly didn’t go to that many games growing up,” Demski said. “To be honest I was actually a security guard for some of these games when this stadium first opened up, when I was in university.

“I’ve been around this stadium, I’ve been around Blue Bomber football, growing up in Winnipeg. It’s gonna be real when I put that jersey on tomorrow.

“I’ll believe it when I finally see it on me.”

While they are not heavy in the experience area, the Bombers believe they have a good group of national receivers who can be difference-makers.

“We have a super strong pack of Canadians that can come in and make an indent in the league,” Simonise said.

“We’re finally starting to kick it up.”

Matt Nichols loves the pre-season — playing games and watching them

Just because it’s a pre-season game, you don’t get the impression it’s any less important to Matt Nichols.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting quarterback, and most important player, expects to play, and win, when his team hosts the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday night.

It may only be June 1, one of the earliest dates ever for the start of the Blue Bombers pre-season, but Nichols has his mid-season game face on already.

“I love the pre-season,” Nichols said Thursday at Investors Group Field. “I love watching the pre-season. I even recorded the Saskatchewan-Edmonton game (last Sunday) just to go back and watch it, get the feel that football is back.

“I’m a guy who feels like I’m doing something wrong if I don’t watch a game that’s on TV.”

Friday’s game is not on TV, but those people who buy tickets will get a chance to watch most of the Bombers starters go up against an Edmonton lineup, made up mostly of second- and third-stringers.

Of course, with the team dressing 70 players, plenty of newcomers will get a chance to show their stuff for the Bombers as well.

“Guys need to step up and make plays, guys who are trying to earn jobs here,” Nichols said. “I’m excited for that.

“Just because it’s a pre-season game, it doesn’t mean you don’t want to win. We’re all competitors out here, whether it’s your first or fourth team out there.”

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